2019 in video games


In the video game industry during 2019, both Sony and Microsoft announced their intent to reveal their next-generation consoles in 2020, while Nintendo introduced a smaller Nintendo Switch Lite, and Google announced its streaming game platform Stadia. The controversy over loot boxes as a potential gambling route continued into 2019, with some governments like Belgium and the Netherlands banning games with them under their gambling laws, while the United Kingdom acknowledging their current laws prevent enforcing these as if they were games of chance. The first video cards to support real-time ray tracing were put onto the consumer market, including the first set of games that would take advantage of the new technology. The Epic Games Store continued its growth in challenging the largest digital PC game distribution service Steam, leading to concern and debate about Epic Games' methods to seek games for its service. Dota Auto Chess, a community-created mod for Dota 2, introduced a new subgenre of strategy games called auto battlers, which saw several games in the genre released throughout the year. Blizzard Entertainment faced criticism due to their involvement in the Blitzchung controversy, which began after they had banned a Hearthstone player for making comments during a tournament regarding the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
Series with new installments in 2019 include Ace Combat, Age of Wonders, Bloodstained, Borderlands, Bubsy, Call of Duty, Contra, Crackdown, Crash Bandicoot, Dead or Alive, Devil May Cry, Digimon, Dr. Mario, Earth Defense Force, Far Cry, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Gears of War, God Eater, Kingdom Hearts, Kirby, Luigi's Mansion, Mario & Sonic, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, MediEvil, Metro, MLB The Show, Mortal Kombat, Need for Speed, No More Heroes, Onimusha, Persona, Pokémon, Rage, Resident Evil, Rivals of Aether, Science Adventure, Shantae, Shenmue, Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Wars, Super Mario, Terminator, Tetris, The Legend of Zelda, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Tom Clancy's The Division, Total War, Trials, Tropico, Umihara Kawase, Vampire: The Masquerade, Wolfenstein, WWE 2K, Yooka-Laylee, Yoshi, and Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Legend

Hardware releases

The list of game-related hardware released in 2019 in North America.
DateConsoleDeveloper
March 25Mega SgAnalogue
May 7Xbox One S All-Digital EditionMicrosoft
May 21Oculus Rift SLenovo, Oculus VR
May 21Oculus QuestOculus VR
June 28Valve IndexValve Corporation
AugustNintendo Switch Nintendo
September 19Sega Genesis MiniSega, M2
September 20Nintendo Switch LiteNintendo
October 10Atari Flashback XAtGames
October 25Capcom Home ArcadeCapcom
November 7HoloLens 2Microsoft
November 11NEOGEO Arcade Stick ProSNK
November 19StadiaGoogle
December 5THEC64Retro Games

Financial performance

estimated that the video game industry grew 4% in 2019, reaching in global revenues. SuperData stated the market was dominated by mobile games which made up, with personal computer games at and console games at.
App Annie, which tracks all mobile app sales, estimated that mobile games accounted for 72% of the spent on the various app stores in 2019, or, with the potential to exceed by 2020. Mobile game expenditures made up 56% of all video game-related revenues in 2019.

Highest-grossing games

The following were 2019's top ten highest-grossing video games in terms of worldwide digital revenue across all platforms. The top ten highest-grossing digital games of the year were all free-to-play games, each grossing more than worldwide in 2019. Six of the top ten highest-grossing games, including the top five titles, are published and/or owned by Chinese conglomerate Tencent.
RankGameRevenuePublisherGenreBusiness model
1Fortnite$3,709,000,000Epic Games Battle royale, SurvivalFree-to-play
2PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds $1,788,000,000Bluehole / TencentBattle royaleFree-to-play / buy-to-play
3Dungeon Fighter Online$1,600,000,000Nexon / TencentBrawlerFree-to-play
4Honor of Kings / Arena of Valor$1,600,000,000TencentMOBAFree-to-play
5League of Legends$1,500,000,000Riot Games / TencentMOBAFree-to-play
6Candy Crush Saga$1,500,000,000King PuzzleFree-to-play
7Pokémon Go$1,400,000,000Niantic / Nintendo / The Pokémon CompanyARFree-to-play
8Crossfire$1,400,000,000Smilegate / TencentFPSFree-to-play
9Fate/Grand Order$1,200,000,000Aniplex RPGFree-to-play
10Last Shelter: Survival$1,100,000,000Long TechSimulationFree-to-play

Best-selling games by country

The following were 2019's top ten best-selling video games by country, in terms of software units sold on PC and console platforms, for the United States, Japan, and United Kingdom.
RankJapanUnited KingdomUnited States
1Pokémon Sword / ShieldFIFA 20Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2Super Smash Bros. UltimateCall of Duty: Modern WarfareNBA 2K20
3Kingdom Hearts IIIMario Kart 8 DeluxeMadden NFL 20
4Super Mario Maker 2Star Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderBorderlands 3
5Monster Hunter World: IcebornePokémon Sword / ShieldMortal Kombat 11
6New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeRed Dead Redemption 2Kingdom Hearts III
7Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Master EditionFIFA 19Tom Clancy's The Division 2
8Mario Kart 8 DeluxeCrash Team Racing Nitro-FueledPokémon Sword / Shield
9Minecraft: Nintendo Switch EditionGrand Theft Auto VSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate
10Luigi's Mansion 3Tom Clancy's The Division 2Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Top-rated games

Critically acclaimed games

is an aggregator of video game journalism reviews. It generally considers expansions and re-releases as separate entities.

Major awards

Video game-based film and television releases

TitleDateTypeDistributorFranchiseOriginal game publisher
Dead PixelsTelevision seriesE4
Detective PikachuFeature filmWarner Bros. Pictures
Toho 		PokémonNintendo
The Pokémon Company
Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV June 21, 2019Comedy filmGaga CorporationFinal Fantasy Square Enix
Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—EvolutionAnime filmToho
Netflix 		PokémonNintendo
The Pokémon Company
Dragon Quest: Your StoryCGI animated filmToho
Netflix 		Dragon QuestSquare Enix
The Angry Birds Movie 2CGI animated filmSony Pictures ReleasingAngry BirdsRovio Entertainment
The King's Avatar: For the GloryChinese animated filmWanda Media
Amazon Prime Video
NiNoKuniAnime filmWarner Bros.Ni no KuniBandai Namco Entertainment
Doom: AnnihilationFeature filmUniversal Pictures Home EntertainmentDoomBethesda Softworks
Pokémon Journeys: The SeriesAnime television seriesTV Tokyo
Netflix 		PokémonNintendo
The Pokémon Company
Jumanji: The Next LevelDecember 13, 2019Feature filmSony Pictures Motion Picture GroupJumanji